Getting enough sleep is vital to create an energy that can run through your mind, muscles, and organs from head to toe and back again. It is during your sleep that your body repairs, detoxifies, balances hormones, and resets itself for the next day so that you can live optimally. At some point in time with busy work schedules, life stresses, or illnesses, getting enough sleep for your body to remain healthy may become a challenge. With small changes in habits and help from Functional Medicine, getting control of your sleep pattern is made possible.

Symptoms and Types of Sleep Deprivation

Feeling fatigued is the obvious signal that not enough rest was had during the night. However, less obvious signs are increased weight, headaches, an inability to concentrate, mood disruptions, or an inability to develop appropriate muscle in relation to a specific exercise intensity.

There are different levels of sleep deprivation, ranging from minimal, moderate, to severe sleep deprivation known as insomnia. At Morgan Camp and Associates, we are interested in learning, down to the biochemical level, the cause of your sleep disturbances. During an interview with tailored questions along with targeted sophisticated laboratory testing through blood, urine, or salivary samples, we will know exactly where the imbalance in your body systems occurs and, more importantly, how to correct it.

Depending on your sleep habits, such as how well you fall asleep or at what time you awaken during the night, a reasonable cause of your insomnia and necessity for specialized laboratory testing can be determined. The Mayo Clinic recognizes ten causes of Insomnia: stress, anxiety, depression, medical conditions especially those affecting the gastrointestinal tract, a change in your environment or routine, medications, poor sleep habits, ‘learned ‘ insomnia due to television watching, eating too much late in the evening, and stimulants or depressants such as caffeine, nicotine, chocolate and alcohol.

Medications and Medical Causes of Insomnia

In regards to medications, many prescription drugs can interfere with sleep, including some antidepressants, heart and blood pressure medications, allergy medications, and corticosteroids. Many over-the-counter (OTC) medications, including pain medication combinations, decongestants and weight-loss products, contain caffeine. Antihistamines may initially make you groggy, but they can worsen urinary problems and increase the frequency to urinate at night. It is important to use medications appropriately and under the supervision of a practitioner who pays attention to the wide affect that most medications have on the body systems, so as to avoid causing imbalances.

Medical conditions linked with insomnia include arthritis, cancer, heart failure, lung disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), overactive thyroid, stroke, Parkinson disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Making sure that your medical conditions are well treated may help with your insomnia?and with the use of specialized laboratory testing, the cause of your insomnia will be identified and appropriate measures taken for its resolution.

Insomnia Guidelines and Diagnostic Decision Tree

The outline below gives you a window into how we consider underlying conditions related to your insomnia as well as how we choose diagnostic tests and possible treatment plans. Because there are so many bio-chemical, environmental, and hormonal factors involved in the etiology of sleep disorders, a myriad of problems must be ruled out depending on your symptoms, physical assessment, personal sleep history and lifestyle, and specific complaints. Given the complicated number of factors to consider, you can see why a focused health history is so important to guiding testing recommendations and treatment plans.

1.Sublingual Melatonin: Start with 5 drops under your tongue at bedtime. Take every night whether you notice a benefit or not for a minimum of 3 Months. You may slowly increase the dose by 2-5 drops by night. Please note:

Melatonin is best taken under the tongue to avoid the liver metabolism of the hormone.

Signs of Too much Melatonin: Grogginess in the AM and/or Frequent Waking at night. ?If either of these occur, lower the dose by 1-2 drops until the symptoms resolve.

1.Low Progesterone: Suspect Low Progesterone if any of the following conditions exist:

You experience increased anxiety, insomnia, bloating, or water retention the last 1-2 weeks of your menstrual cycle or

You are over the age of 40 and have insomnia that has worsened as you have gotten older

If you are peri-menopausal: contact Dr. Camp’s office for a lab slip to check your progesterone. If you are pre- menopausal, you should have your level checked ideally on Day 19-21 of your cycle. Call us at (415) 383-9903

2.Low Estrogens: Suspect Low Estrogens if any of the following conditions exist:

3. Low Growth Hormone: Suspect low growth hormone if any of the following exist:

Greater than Age 40

Sagging Skin, Loss of Muscle Tone

Light Sleep w/ excessive need for sleep

Chronic Anxiety for no reason

Not feeling rested after getting enough sleep.

*For all male and female hormone deficiency concerns as a cause of sleep disturbances, please set up an appointment and/or get the appropriate labs from us for replacement therapy to improve your sleep. We are experts in this line of medicine.

Sleep Hygiene and EMF’s

There is now an entire body of evidence suggesting that habits prior to sleep (such as TV watching in bed) and exposure to EMF’s (such as having a cell phone next to your head while you sleep) can have serious effects on your sleep. The following is a link to an article reviewing appropriate sleep hygiene habits that will improve your sleep:

In general, the following habits will improve your chances of a good night’s sleep:

Do not watch TV or work on the computer an hour before going to bed

TV’s and video games should be placed outside the bedroom.

Avoid stimulating foods and drinks before bedtime such as alcohol, chocolate, and caffeine.

Do not engage in vigorous exercise or activity in the late evening.

Create a soothing sleep routine to promote sleep. Examples include: take a lavender aromatherapy bath by candle light before bed or try reading for the hour prior to bed instead of watching TV or working on the computer, and always avoid stressful conversations and situations several hours prior to bedtime if possible.

Avoiding Electro-Magnetic-Frequency’s in the bedroom is another important strategy to consider. The evidence suggests that exposure to high levels of EMF’s may cause headaches, fatigue, nervousness, and a host of health problems including insomnia. Here is a second link if you would like to read more about this:

Put your cell phone on “airplane mode,” leave it in a different room or turn it off altogether.

Avoid digital clocks on the bedside table.

Mattresses with metal coiling may conduct electricity from other sources exposing you to high levels of EMF’s.

The evidence suggesting the health and sleep risks of EMF’s is gaining. Do not ignore electrical devices in your bedroom as a source of insomnia, and instead find ways to reduce them or remove them.

Brain Neurotransmitters

Science is uncovering new information about the importance of brain neurotransmitters. It is a constantly developing field of medicine. Neurotransmitters are specialized cells in the body and brain that carry specialized electrical information between neurons or nerves. These specialized messages initiate the cells to do specific activities or they may signal specific neural pathways.

There are both excitatory neurotransmitters that cause energy and motivation and rev up your brain and system, and there are inhibitory neurotransmitters that cause sleep, calm, and relaxation.

Elevated levels of excitatory neurotransmitters at the wrong time can lead to sleep disturbances. So, for example, elevated levels of adrenalin when you are stressed out will excite the brain and nerves making sleep difficult. Other excitatory neurotransmitters include histamine, norepinephrine, and glutamate. Ideally, these neurotransmitters are at high levels during the day and at low levels during the night.

Conversely, low levels of the inhibitory, calming neurotransmitters during the evening will lead to sleep disturbances as well. Calming, inhibitory neurotransmitters include serotonin, GABA, Taurine, and glycine to name a few. These neurotransmitters ideally will be at lower levels during the day supporting wakefulness, and they will be at higher levels during the evening and night helping to induce sleep.

The delicate balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters are also elemental to the production of melatonin—a key hormone for sound sleep. Around bedtime, the drop in excitatory neurotransmitter levels and a rise in inhibitory levels signal the production of melatonin. During the night, low levels of excitatory transmitters and melatonin are what the body needs for deep, restful sleep.

Exercise

Regular exercise is an important factor contributing to restful sleep. 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise 3-4 times a week as a minimum requirement will help cause relaxation and sleep.

Timing of when you exercise appears to be important. The worst time to exercise would be right before bed or anytime after 7 p.m. In this case, it would be too stimulating. Avoid!

The best time to exercise to promote sleep appears to be late afternoon or very early evening anytime prior to 6 or 7 p.m. This is because the exercise will raise your body temperature. Body temperature changes are intricately related to the brain neurotransmitter production and balance described above. As your body temperature cools down over several hours after exercising, calming neurotransmitters begin to get produced in relation to the body temperature change.

Exercising in the morning is another good time to exercise, but will not have the same sleep inducing properties as the late afternoon. Exercise in the morning will promote a reduction in stress and a sense of well being which overall will benefit your sleep.

Concluding Remarks

Lack of optimal sleep is a common complaint at our practice, and with good reason! Sleep deprivation is a known factor in most chronic health problems including cardiac disease, diabetes, obesity, fatigue, and immune problems including cancer.

With an accurate history and appropriate labs, practitioners of functional medicine such as Morgan Camp MD and Associates can discover the cause of your insomnia on a hormonal and biochemical level. Lifestyle changes may be necessary as well. If you would like a more thorough investigation of the cause of your insomnia, please make an appointment for a thorough assessment!

The darker and colder days of winter are almost upon us! And, while holiday fun is something many of us look forward to, unfortunately, this time of year also means a surge in colds and flu! While friends, family and co-workers may be hacking away around you, you CAN stay healthy! If you do catch a bug, we have the information you need and an effective supplement plan to greatly minimize the damage! We want to get you ahead of the curve so you can stay healthy this season. Following is a review of lifestyle and diet habits that may prevent colds and flus as well as a list of supplements to knock it out if you do get an infection. It’s great to have at least some of these supplements on hand at home as many are most effective literally at the first sign or couple of hours after exposure or symptoms. Get your supplements today so that you and your family are prepared for cold and flu season! Read on!

General Prevention

There are many things you can do to prevent catching a cold or flu. With a healthy lifestyle and diet, you can prevent almost any acute infectious illness. If you missed last month’s newsletter on Adrenal health, please review now by clicking HERE as protecting your adrenal health is an important key to staying healthy. Here is our list of your top lifestyle and foods that are infection squashers!!!!!!

Frequent Hand Washing: Many experts agree and it is well documented that frequent hand washing prevents the spread of infectious organisms, both viral and bacterial. If someone is sick at home or at work, preventing hand to nose/mouth transmission of the infectious agent is your first big block to acquiring the illness. Effective hand washing does not necessitate chemical soaps. It DOES necessitate 10-15 seconds of soaping and rubbing hands together firmly and rinsing in warm water. Count the seconds. It will feel long at first. Do this as frequently as needed. If you are surrounded in an enclosed environment (home, work, court, Target, wherever!), hand washing every hour or more would be appropriate!

Avoid Hand to Nose/Mouth Contact: Handwashing is a part of avoiding spreading infection, but so it avoiding touching infected items that someone sick may have touched. Avoid sharing the following with sick people: sharing pens, utensils, cups, door handles, elevator buttons, and almost anything you can think of that multiple people touch in a public environment. Use your elbow to press elevator buttons in public areas during cold season (I do this year-round). If you must touch an infected public door handle or other infected item, wash your hands as soon as possible and avoid touching your hands to your face until you do so.

Keep Your Vitamin D Optimal: Keeping your Vitamin D levels in an optimum level is an effective way of preventing colds and flus. It is not a simple coincidence that people contract far less of these infections during the summer. As many of you know, vitamin levels naturally increase during increased exposure to the sun. Vitamin D enhances immune function and is a primary hormone for improved immune function and cold and flu prevention.

Optimize Sleep: We all have heard about the benefits of sleep. Most of us hardly function if we miss out on more than 1 or 2 nights of good sleep. Sleep is when your body repairs and rejuvenates. It’s critical for healthy immune, adrenal, hormonal, neurologic, brain and gastrointestinal function. If you are able to get regular, deep sleep, you will have a head start on a strong immune system for preventing colds and flus. Start creating a sleep routine that supports a good nights sleep. Turn off all TV’s, computers, game devices, and bright lights at least an hour ahead of your expected sleep time. For a full read on sleep and how to improve it, please click HERE to read our article on Sleep.

Include Coconut Oil in Your Diet: Coconut oil is fast becoming the latest in good health. There are many good reasons for this: coconut oil promotes weight loss, helps reduce insulin, may improve metabolism, and what’s important for our topic here is that coconut oil has many anti-infectious properties. It is useful in the treatment of gut candida infections, but it also has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. While vitamin D and other supplements go into my suitcase for travel trips, coconut oil does too. It’s useful for scrapes and burns, improving skin, is anti-inflammatory in general, but I add it into my tea or coffee when traveling for added defense against colds and flus. If you start using it regularly in your cooking, you will get this added benefit year round.

Include Garlic, Onion, and Shallots in Your Cooking: Onions and garlic and their relatives (leeks, shallots) are super foods to keep in your kitchen this fall and winter to prevent illness. Both onions and garlic are in the Allium vegetable family and they are rich in sulfides and sulfoxides. These sulfers are potent anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial elements. Even some antibiotic resistant strains of staph bacteria have been shown to respond well to garlic. Garlic is a particularly potent anti-infective.

Garlic loses some of it’s anti-infective properties when cooked. Unfortunately, raw garlic makes many people nauseous. I discovered in college the best way to get raw garlic down without nausea was to create a raw garlic-butter or oil toast. Here’s how to make your gluten free toast with some raw garlic butter or garlic olive oil or coconut oil. Start by melting 2-3 teaspoons of organic, raw butter or olive oil or coconut oil over low heat in a saucepan. Meanwhile toast your gluten free bread and chop 1-2 cloves of garlic. When the butter is just melted but not hot, add the garlic and immediately put the garlic oil or butter on the toast and eat. You will have a raw garlic toast treat that will not make you nauseated! Do this 2-3 times per day at the onset of a cold!

Regular Exercise: Exercise is not just good for mood, your waistline, and your cardiovascular health. It is great for improving your immune system and reducing your chances of getting colds and flus. Research continually confirms that it does not need to be intense or exhausting for you to reap the immune-boosting benefits.

Some findings show that moderate exercise such as 20-30 minute walks several times a week reduces the number of colds and flus a person will get. Research shows that regular exercise boosts both the number and the aggressiveness of natural killer cells by as much as 50%-300%. These immune cells are one of your initial defenses that battle infectious intruders.

In another study in the American Journal of Medicine, women who walked for 30 minutes every day for a year had half the number of colds as women who did no exercise at all. Another study found that T-Cells—a white blood cell that fights infections–were also increased with a simple walking program.

Get moving to avoid colds and flus. Start your walking program today!

What To Do After An Exposure

Ok, so you’ve been taking your vitamin D, washing your hands, getting lots of sleep, and eating all kinds of garlic and coconut oil, but now you are certain you had close contact with a very sick person and got exposed. You’re even feeling a little fatigued as if illness may soon ensue. No worries. It only means it’s time to start taking the correct anti-virals and immune support at the correct dosing. All of these products are available at our online store. Buy a few today so that you are prepared at the first sign of exposure! Click the highlighted word to order these supplements from our online store so that you are prepared at home! Here’s your infection battle plan:

Vitamin D3: Start loading our Liquid-D3 by Rx Vitamins immediately after exposure. You should take 1 dropperful per day x 3 days, then 5 drops per day for one month. Then re-check serum blood levels

Argentyn 23: This bio-active silver hydrosol product Argentyn 23 is available through licensed professionals only. It is a refined and pure colloidal silver which enhances immune function and is used as an anti-infectious agent, killing various viruses and bacteria. Take 1 teaspoon 3 times per day. Hold in mouth for 1-2 minutes then swallow.

Vitamin C: Take 3,000 milligrams 3 times per day of our Vitamin C Powder by AllergyResearchGroup. Vitamin C has long been heralded as a strong anti-viral at therapeutic dosages. Our powder is highly absorbable to help knock out that infection! This dosage may give you some loose stool, a normal side effect. You may decrease your dose to 2 grams 3 x per day if this side effect is bothersome. However, loose stool may enhance your healing ability by detoxing and improving liver and gut health which will improve your chance of fighting of the exposure, an added bonus actually.

Selenium: Selenium is touted as being a big gun against the flu virus specifically. Take 200 mcg per day of our highly absorbable Selenium Solution.

Pregnenalone: Get out your sublingual Pregnenalone to enhance your immune function! If you read our adrenal health newsletter, you will already understand that cortisol will help improve immunity and fight infection. Pregnenalone is a pre-cursor hormone that will convert in part to cortisol, boosting your immune system. Take 10 drops sublingually 3 times a day until symptoms resolve. Be sure to hold the drops under your tongue a full 60 seconds for absorption!

Treating Full Blown Colds and Flus

Below are listed powerhouse supplements that will greatly reduce both the intensity and the duration of your cold or flu. As soon as you realize your exposure has moved into the infection stage, start the following supplement regimen as soon as possible. Again, to orderclick the highlighted product to get directed to our online store for purchase.

Vitamin D3: Increase the amount of Vitamin D3 you take immediately to 1,000 Units per pound of body weight (or 1 drop per kilo per day x 3 days). Again, ramping up your Vitamin D will quickly increase your immunity.

Argentyn 23: Ramp up the dose of this potent anti-microbial. Take 2 Tablespoons 3-4 times per day.

Virattack: Add on this powerful herbal mixture. As the name implies, this mixture is a specifically concocted anti-viral. Take 1 dropperful 5 times per day.

D-Lenolate: An olive leaf extract formulation, D-Lenolite can be used to remedy many different types of viral infections including colds and flus. D-Lenolite has many anti-inflammatory properties as well. Take 1 capsule 3 times per day.

Bio-Identical Hydrocortisone: For those of you currently taking Hydrocortisone as part of your hormone regimen, hydrocortisone is fantastic at improving immune system response and minimizing colds and flus. Take an extra 5 mg at the onset of symptoms, then take another 5 mg 30-60 minutes later. You may need to double your regular dose for a few days.

Please see the Cold and Flu Treatment Quick sheet below for a synopsis of these supplement remedies.

Cold and Flu Treatment Qucik Cheat Sheet:

What to take ASAP after Exposure:

Vitamin D3: 1 dropperful per day for 3days, then 5 drops per day for 1 month

Hydrocortisone: Take an extra dose immediately at onset of symptoms, then again 30-60 minutes later. May need to double dose for a few days.

Concluding Remarks

All of us here at Dr. Morgan Camp MD and Associates want to wish you a safe andhealthyholiday season! Get a head-start on your prevention plan today. Print out and post on your refrigerator the supplement cheat sheet for cold and flus below so the information is practical and handy. Log in to our online store HERE to get your cold and flu supplement remedy stash together and ready for combat action!

Are you prone to fatigue? Do you suffer from insomnia? Is anxiety interfering with your life? Do you suffer from feelings of mental fog? Is getting your coffee in the morning the best part of your day? Do allergies or asthma bother you? Ever feel like you have drops in blood sugar that seem sudden or unexplainable? Do you feel like you have a lack of vitality that keeps you from working out effectively? Low libido? You are not alone! Adrenal-related issues are incredibly common and are one of the primary reasons why people seek help at our practice.

Fall Focus

As the sun moves South and the long, lazy days of summer begin to fade, busy school schedules resume, workloads shift back into gear, and the holidays loom in the foreground. As stress levels start to rise with these increased demands in your schedule, protecting your adrenal health should be one of your primary fall health goals. Read on for a discussion on how your adrenal glands function, how they impact your health, and what you can do to keep them functioning well.

Symptoms Of Adrenal Problems

Adrenal problems often pop up after either physical stress–such as a chronic infection or a busy schedule–or after emotional stress such as the death of a loved one or a break up. After prolonged physical or emotional stress, eventually a person will end up with either symptoms reflecting adrenal imbalances or other health syndromes and diagnoses that are related to adrenal fatigue.

Here are some common symptoms and physical indicators that you having disruptions in your adrenal function. You only need one or two for us to suspect an adrenal imbalance:

Any type of tick-borne illness or disease such as Lyme disease or Bartonella

Obviously, adrenal complaints are no laughing matter and many of these signs and symptoms can impact not only your physical health and personal well being, but your work performance and relationships. If you have any of these infections, signs or symptoms, you would be wise to consider testing.

What Are Your Adrenal Glands?

Your adrenal glands are tiny, triangular shaped glands that sit on top of your kidneys. They are responsible for creating and releasing hormones that help you cope with stress, reduce inflammation in the body, regulate sodium and potassium levels in the blood, and stabilize blood sugars. Most people are familiar with cortisol and epinephrine (or “adrenaline”) as they relate to stress, but most people are not aware that these hormones impact your blood sugars and glucose metabolism as well. Additionally, cortisol reduces inflammation, helps fight infections, and is critical at optimal levels for creating a sense of vitality and well being.

When you become stressed for any reason whether it be a difficult conversation with someone, a car accident, a stressful day at work or a situation where you may be in danger, your adrenals release epinephrine (adrenaline.) The adrenaline hormone quickly increases your heart rate, contracts blood vessels, and dilates air passages to give you what’s commonly described as a “fight or flight reaction.” You may experience this as feeling “super charged” ready for muscular strength or quick thinking. Your body, in response to this hormone, will quickly burn through any available energy stores, lowering your blood sugar. Shortly after the adrenaline release, your body will produce cortisol to increase your blood sugar in order to help your body return to homeostasis.

Of course, if you are river rafting and fall off the raft and this reaction occurs, it sets up the perfect environment for you to quickly harness energy and respond to the emergency. However, if you are garnering this hormonal response multiple times a day due to emotional stress from family responsibilities, emotional turmoil from family dysfunctions or break ups with a partner, work stress, traffic, death of a loved one, or prolonged health problems or social crises, your adrenal glands and entire physical body will soon become exhausted. This fight or flight reaction was not intended by mother nature to be an all day, everyday event, but intended only for use during true survival emergencies.

Modern day life and pressures set up the perfect opportunity for many people to feel chronically fatigued and “burned out.” In fact, they are indeed in a form of burn out we diagnose as adrenal fatigue.

How do I get tested?

Testing for your adrenal health is fairly simple, but it is important that you get the correct tests. There are 3 ways of collecting information about your adrenal glands:

1. Salivary Testing

2. 24 Hour Urine Testing

3. Blood Work

Salivary testing: Salivary testing is considered “The Gold Standard” with regards to adrenal testing, and we will recommend this test to anyone whom we feel may have an adrenal issue underlying their health complaints. During the salivary test, you will collect your spit into tubes at specific times throughout the day. Because science knows that healthy adrenals produce a reliable pattern of hormonal output during specific times of the day, this test allows us to measure how well your adrenals are functioning against a healthy standard.

Oftentimes, we can identify the reasons for insomnia or decreased energy levels during specific time periods of the day reflecting the timing of patients’ complaints. We can also see if you are in a severe state of adrenal fatigue where cortisol levels are bottoming out throughout the day alerting us that there may be other issues going on such as a chronic infection draining the system.

It is critical on the day of the test that you do not have any caffeine and you may not use any other sublingual medications or hormones (such as melatonin, pregnenalone etc) several days prior to and of the testing. Caffeine and sublingual medications and hormones can disrupt your test results. It is also important that you choose a day off where you do not have to go to work or deal with any other additional stressors.

24 Hour Urine Test: The 24 hour urine test is another test that will give us detailed information about your adrenal health. For this test, you will literally collect all of your urine for a 24 hour time period and send a portion of it to a lab for analysis. Similar to the salivary test, it is best to do this test on a day where you do not have to work or deal with stressful events that may alter your test results. Additionally, caffeine use may disrupt the test results.

The 24 hour urine test will give us 24 hour totals of your adrenal hormone derivatives, but will not tell us functional patterns of your cortisol output at specific times during the day. For most patients, we will recommend the salivary testing first. The 24 hour urine test is one of the best ways for assessing hormonal imbalances and we often recommend it to assess for a variety of hormonal issues.

Bloodwork: Bloodwork is the least reliable way to check your adrenals. Nonetheless, there are some very specific tests that can be done via serum labs that cannot be done on the salivary test. We may add some adrenal blood tests to confirm or match with the results from your salivary test.

Please call the office for any questions regarding testing.

Treatment of Adrenal Issues, Dietary Guidelines, and Supplements

Get More Sleep and Rest: Too little sleep causes your adrenal glands to over produce cortisol and adrenaline just to maintain normal bodily functions and energy levels that should be rejuvenated during sleep. By resting whenever you feel tired, your body will recharge energy levels naturally rather than relying on cortisol and adrenaline to keep you going. This would include creating a sleep schedule. Try getting to sleep around the same time every night. Having erratic sleep schedules that change everyday will quickly tire out your adrenals. It is also said that sleeping between the hours of 7-9 a.m. can be particularly healing. Whenever you get the chance, sleep in! Sleep and rest are a critical component of healing. You MUST figure out a way to find more time to sleep and relax.

Avoid Intense Exercise: Intense exercise requires large amounts of adrenaline and cortisol. Many people experiencing adrenal fatigue notice that after their work outs they feel a dramatic sense of fatigue instead of feeling energized. If you are in adrenal fatigue, you must tone down your work outs to things like quiet walking, yoga, and gentle swims. Intense exercise may be something you can go back to doing once you have healed.

Avoid Chemicals, Toxins, and Pesticides: All of these things will drain your adrenals as your adrenals will attempt to reduce inflammation caused by these products. Food must be organic, you must avoid chemical inhalents such as paint fumes, and body care products such as toothpaste and shampoos should be organic and made of natural products. Start looking at labels and buying products that are created without chemicals.

Treat All Chronic Infections: If you suspect that you have any chronic infection whether it be a virus like Epstein Barr, bacterial like chronic sinusitis, or a long term gut problem like candida or H Pylori, these infections must be correctly treated before you will ever recover. Because your adrenal glands also function to reduce inflammation and improve immune function, hosting an infectious agent chronically will eventually weaken your adrenals and cause extreme fatigue. You can take adrenal supplements, sleep, eat the perfect adrenal diet, and reduce all other external stress, but you will not heal until the infection is managed correctly. Please come see us for testing if you suspect any type of infection.

Avoid Caffeine and Other Stimulants: Caffeine and other stimulants such as nicotine will artificially spike your cortisol and adrenalin hormones adding an extra work-load for your adrenal glands. This will contribute to fatigue. Taper off slowly. If you find that you truly cannot stop caffeine completely, reduce it to the lowest possible amount! Your adrenals will thank you!

Avoid Alcohol, Refined Sugars and Grains: When you drink alcohol or eat refined sugars and grains, your blood sugars rise quickly. This prompts your pancreas to release insulin to reduce your blood sugars. When your blood sugar drops too low, your adrenals are forced to produce cortisol to bring blood sugar levels back up to normal. This blood sugar merry-go-round is one of the contributing factors to adrenal fatigue. To heal, your diet must eliminate most sugars, breads, grains, and packaged carbohydrates. Alcohol is metabolized in the body and cells just like sugar, so alcohol is best eliminated for healing as well.

Include Small Amounts of Complex Carbohydrates: While the Paleo diet is definitely a diet we recommend for many patients, people who are already in adrenal fatigue will feel miserable in the initial stages of treatment on a strict paleo diet that eliminates all carbohydrates. Instead, people with weak adrenals will need to include a small amount of complex carbohydrates in each of their meals that are low glycemic.

Low glycemic carbohydrates will not spike blood sugars. Instead, complex carbohydrates will slowly release a steady amount of sugar into the blood stream over several hours as the stomach breaks down the long chained food and chemical bonds. These carbohydrates when eaten with meat, vegetables, and some healthy fat will help stabilize your blood sugars and eliminate surges and drops in sugar levels so your adrenals won’t have to work so hard at maintaining them. Our favorite recommendations are small amounts of yams or quinoa with your meals both for their low glycemic index and for their anti-inflammatory properties.

Eat More Healthy Fats: Including healthy fats in your diet will be very important for adrenal healing. In fact, healthy fats—not carbohydrates–should be your primary energy source. In particular, you may want to include coconut oil in every meal. Coconut oil is a medium chained fatty acid and has the very unusual property of being the only fat that your liver can turn into useable energy in the bloodstream instead of going straight to fat storage. Therefore, while you eliminate your sugars and grains, coconut oil will help keep you from feeling fatigued. Including healthy fats in your meals will help stabilize blood sugars, even out moods, and keep you feeling satiated. Many experts are now concluding that having larger amounts of healthy fats in your diets and far less carbohydrates are a key to optimal health. Adrenal health is included. Pour on the olive oil, use coconut oil, add some avocado to your meals, and make sure all meats and poultry are organic and grass fed to avoid toxins and chemicals that will also weaken your adrenals.

Eat Lots of Greens and Healthy Salt: Your adrenal glands produce a hormone called aldosterone that regulates sodium and potassium levels. Many of the minerals found in deep leafy greens and in a healthy salt (such as Himalayan or sea salt) will help support your adrenal glands by avoiding highs and lows in these important nutrients. Having healthy levels of salt is actually critical to adrenal recovery with some experts recommending having warm water with a teaspoon of sea salt 2-3 times per day as part of their adrenal treatment plan. Cook up your greens and heap on the salt!

Supplements and Support: There are a wide variety of bio-identical hormones and supplements that may help you overcome adrenal fatigue—too many to fully discuss here. After testing, we can prescribe the correct dose and combination of supplements that fit your health needs. Please click HERE to log into your account with our office. Once you log in you can set up an appointment to discuss which one’s might be right for you, or call the office at (415)383-9903.

Stress Management

Stress management will be a crucial piece to your healing, and it is something we cannot do for you. While we can certainly recommend lifestyle changes, medications and supplements to support your adrenal glands, in the end, learning to handle stress effectively and arranging your life to be less stressful may be the central task for long-term wellness and healing.

Meditation and Breathing: Research has shown us that meditation and breathing exercises can greatly improve stress responses and common health problems such as anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue. They do not have to take up huge amounts of time in your day to be effective. For example, the simple exercise of taking 3 deep, slow belly breaths can change your day right in that moment. Learning to get in touch with some of these techniques will be very important as you learn to control your emotional and stress responses.

Dr. Andrew Weil MD, whom you may be familiar with, has been a pioneer in integrative health for decades. He has long been a proponent of teaching patients (and their healthcare providers) breathing exercises to improve health and is emphatic that food, sleep, and supplements are not enough to stay healthy. In fact, meditation and breath work are mandatory for the Physicians and Nurse Practitioners he trains at his integrative medical school in Arizona. Here is a link to his introduction to breathing exercises from his website: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00520/breathing-basics.html

Dr. Deepak Chopra, also likely someone you are familiar with, stands at the forefront of bringing meditation practices to the masses. You may have heard of his and Oprah’s “21 Day Meditation Challenges” which are short, free, and intended to bring beginning meditators “into the fold” by creating 12-15 minute daily guided meditations that anyone can do. To register so that you will be alerted to their next 21 day challenge, click this link: www.chopracentermeditation.com and click “register” at the top right.

There are thousands of internet sites devoted to meditation and spiritual practices. We are fortunate in the Bay Area to have multiple Buddhist and Zen centers dedicated to teaching meditation that often offer free weekly meditations and meditation trainings to the public. Spirit Rock is one in Woodacre: www.spiritrock.org. For other places closer to you, enter in your google search tool “zen center” and any city, and multiple centers with calendars and events will show in your browser.

We recommend everyone start to integrate breath work or a meditation practice into your health regimen even if for just a few minutes or even seconds each day!

Reducing Stress and Anxiety: While breathing exercises and/or meditation will be helpful, other things you may need to revise to heal are your work schedules, your living spaces and your relationships. You will not fully heal until you manage the physical and emotional realities causing your adrenal fatigue.

For example, is your apartment full of mold? This physical stressor demands a move. You may never feel well regardless of supplements, food and breathing techniques if you are constantly exposed to this physical toxin.

Are you fighting with your partner? Maybe some marriage counseling is something that is finally necessary. Chronic emotional stress such as this will keep your adrenals weak.

Are you having problems at work? What can you do to make it tolerable?

We literally have had patients that have had to change jobs, move to a different location, or get a divorce to get healthy. These are extreme cases. For most of you, there will be strategies and ways you can reduce stress in your day to day life without taking such extreme measures.

Start today by taking a pen and paper and writing down all the things impacting your adrenal glands and nervous system. Brainstorm solutions and start implementing whichever ones you can.

Concluding Remarks

Adrenal fatigue is one of the most common health problems we see in the office. If you are undergoing a stressful time in your life or are having some of the symptoms we have listed in this article, please do not wait for the fatigue or other related health problems to get worse. We can help. If you feel that you need testing, retesting, or an assessment, please do not hesitate to call us for a full analysis! Stop suffering and waiting for your health to get worse. Get the help that you need. Moreover, whether you are well or feeling fatigued, implement some of these adrenal supporting strategies today and protect your vitality!

The thyroid gland is one of the most important glands to support in the quest for achieving optimal health. It brings vitality and energy to your life and runs every metabolic process in your body. Symptoms of sub-optimal thyroid health include a huge laundry list of symptoms ranging from constipation, fatigue, menstrual irregularities, and depression to odd complaints like random tendon pain, poor recovery from work-outs, frequent urination at night and a hoarse voice. And, while hypothyroidism is becoming an epidemic in this country, there are many things you can do to help improve your thyroid health whether you take thyroid meds or not!

Keep your Adrenals Healthy: Your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys and are your bodies control center for responding to stress. The adrenals control your “fight or flight response” and the output of adrenaline, cortisol and other hormones in response to a stressful event. Long term stress whether from work, toxins, relationships issues, and financial difficulties all have the same negative impact your adrenal health. Because the two systems are intertwined and produce the majority of your sex hormones, your thyroid gland will not work effectively if your adrenal system is functioning poorly.

We offer many different plans and strategies to help you heal your adrenals if you feel chronically fatigued and stressed out. In the meantime, don’t forget the importance of rest and relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, having fun, and taking time for yourself. Reducing stress should be on the top of your list for optimizing your health.

Improve your Digestive Health: Your thyroid needs strong nutritional support. If your gut is frequently inflamed and aching, if you have trouble with gas and bloating, diarrhea or constipation or any chronic signs and symptoms that your gut is not functioning properly, you may not be absorbing the nutrients essential for your thyroid gland to thrive. Functional medicine and digestive health is one of our specialties. Please don’t wait for your thyroid and other hormonal and structural systems to crash because you are not absorbing food correctly.

We offer comprehensive GI and food allergy testing. Come in and see Dr. Camp or Marya Grosse, FNP if you need a work up for digestive complaints.

Avoid fluorine, chlorine and bromine but add iodine!: Your thyroid hormones are heavily laden with the element iodine. In fact, it is well documented that the correct form of Iodine is critical to your thyroid production. (Unfortunately, iodized table salt is NOT the bio-available iodine needed). Iodine, as well as fluorine, chlorine and bromine are all a particular type of chemical called a halogen. Halogens are highly reactive and weighted similarly. Therefore, they compete with each other for cell receptor sites. What this means is that if a particular cell or enzyme needs iodine (which the thyroid does), chlorine or fluorine may bind to these cells instead. Therefore, if you drink water with chlorine or fluorine in it, for example, your thyroid hormones may have these rogue halogens attached to them instead of iodine, rendering your thyroid hormone useless for cellular use! Your active thyroid hormone needs an exact number of iodine to activate your cellular sites. Bromine is commonly found in processed foods with white flour. If you didn’t have another reason to avoid processed wheat products, you have one now!

Quick fix: get yourself a quality carbon water filter system that removes both chlorine and fluorine from your home drinking water and avoid processed baked goods that may have bromine in it! Talk to us about the dosage of iodine in the correct form necessary to support your thyroid and increase your usable, thyroid friendly iodine halogen!

Selenium and Zinc: These are two of the most important nutrients for supporting your thyroid. The thyroid glands needs large amount of both of these to function correctly. Selenium is crucial for the conversion of T4 to it’s active T3 form! Without enough selenium, you may not convert effectively. Zinc is necessary both in supporting the pituitary in sending signals to the thyroid to produce more thyroid hormone, and for proper binding of your thyroid hormone to your cell receptors.

-We recommend a daily minimum of 200 mcg of selenium and 30-50 mg of zinc.

Avoid long term, low calorie dieting: Our bodies evolved to be very efficient. Your active thyroid hormone largely increases your metabolic rate, increasing the need for food and calories. What happens when you reduce calories for a long period of time? Your body gets very creative, and produces something called reverse T3 which reduces your metabolic rate. High levels of reverse T3 is not something most of want to avoid. It is configured with a slightly different number of iodine molecules than your actual active thyroid hormone. However, it is so similar to your actual thyroid hormone that it will compete for the cell receptors for your T3 hormone and fill those receptors blocking your active hormone from filling the receptors. This of course leads a reduced metabolic rate, a decrease in energy and vitality, an inability to lose weight, and exhaustion.

Thyroid health is key to feeling energetic and having quality vital energy. You CAN improve your thyroid status. Employ all of these strategies to improve your thyroid gland’s health! If you have further questions and need an appointment, please call our office at (415) 383-9903.